State Preview: Alaska

In
the weeks leading up to the draft, Perfect Game will be providing a
detailed overview of each state in the U.S., including the District
of Columbia, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. These overviews will
list the state's strengths, weaknesses and the players with the best
tools, as well as providing scouting reports on all Group 1 and 2
players as ranked in Perfect Game's state-by-state scouting lists.

2011 Alaska Overview
Alaska
Overview:Juneau
School Wins State Title, Claims Top Draft PickAlaska’s
high-school ranks are not expected to produce a single draft pick
again this year, but it will nonetheless be a noteworthy draft for
the state.
That’s
because College of Western Nevada sophomore righthander Dylan Baker,
projected to be the nation’s first junior-college player drafted,
is a product of Alaska’s Juneau-Douglas High School. Baker led that
school to a state championship and an undefeated in-state record as a
senior in 2010, though it wasn’t until this season, when he added
as much as 10 mph to his fastball and was clocked up to 100 mph, that
Baker’s untapped talent came to the forefront. He threw in the
mid-80s as a prep senior and was largely unrecruited by schools in
the Lower 48 at the time.
It
is anticipated that Baker will be drafted as early the supplemental
first round, which would be a record for a player who attended high
school in Alaska. In the state’s baseball-draft history, just two
high-school players have ever been selected in the first 14
rounds—one being former Duke basketball star and NBA player Trajan
Langdon. He accepted a $200,000 bonus from the San Diego Padres as a
sixth-round pick in 1994 out of an Anchorage high school, and went on
to play just a handful of minor-league games in that organization.
Juneau-Douglas,
Baker’s alma mater, won another state title this year, its third in
five years and fifth overall since Alaska began crowning
state-championship teams in baseball in 2000. Just like Baker almost
singlehandedly powered his school to a state crown as a senior, both
as a pitcher and hitter, one of his former teammates, Lance Ibesate,
performed much the same task as he pitched the first six innings of a
12-6 win over Ketchikan High in the state championship game, while
drilling four hits and driving in six runs, four on a grand slam, and
also stole two bases. Ibesate is not viewed as a prospect of any
consequence, though the same was said of Baker two years ago.Alaska
in a nutshell:
BEST
OUT-OF-STATE PROSPECT, Alabama Connection:
Dylan Baker, rhp, College of Western Nevada (Attended high school in
Juneau).Top
2013 Prospect:
Zach Ferntheil, rhp/1b, Service HS, Anchorage.Top2014
Prospect:
No established player.HIGHEST
DRAFT PICKS
Draft
History:
Brian Montalbo, rhp, Dimond HS, Anchorage (2000, Braves/4th round).2006
Draft:
E.B. Crow, rhp, Sitka HS (Giants/23rd round).2007
Draft: None
selected.2008
Draft: Chris
Aure, lhp, North Pole HS (Pirates/15th round).2009
Draft: None
selected.2010
Draft:
None selected.2011
Draft: None
selected.2011
DRAFT OVERVIEW
High
School Players Drafted/Signed:
0/0.TOP
PROSPECTS, GROUPS ONE and TWONone